024 



residence of Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart. As 

 becomes one qualified to successfully carry 

 out the dutiefi pertaining to an estajblish- 

 ment wbere hardy subjects are almost ex- 

 clusively tolerated, it is needleSfS to say 

 that Mr. Gordon, though yet comparatively 

 a young man, has an extensive knowledge 

 of herbaceous and rock plants, trees and 

 shrubs^ which, for the most part, thrive 

 remarkably well in the genial climate for 

 which this portion of Scotland is noted. 

 In re<^ent years the grounds surrounding 

 the raan-vion of ^lonreith have been largely 

 rcmodelUnl, and the various plants so ar- 

 range<l that each enjoys, as far as possible, 

 the advantages of situation, as that of the 

 maximum amount of shade or sunshine, 

 shelter or moisture, according to their re- 

 >|>ective needs. Away from home Mr. Gor- 

 don is well known as a very suci'<^sful ciil- 

 t ivator of fruits and vegetabU^s. At 

 county exhibitions he has been well repre- 

 Sfmted, and, encourage<l by success near 

 honu^, he has souglit honours farther afield, 

 n-otaibly at KJdinburgh, where, at the 

 autumn gatherings of the Royal Cale- 

 donian Horticultural Society, conspicuous 

 good fortu ne has atte ndtnl h is efFo rts. 

 Among his successes grapes have been pro- 

 minent, particularly sui*h kinds as Ali- 

 cante, Alnwick Seedling, Muscats of sorts, 

 ami lilack Hamburgh. For the latter Mr. 

 Gordon lias on two occasions at least been 



G'^'iicdule 



a w a r d ed (over and a bo v e th o 

 prizes) the sipccial me<lal for high calturo 

 which the society instituted some years ago 

 to encourage a higher standard for this 

 most popiilar grape. The Williams' Memo- 

 rial Medal for general excellence of pro- 

 duce was also awardcnl a short time ago to 

 Mr, Gordon at tins society's autumn exhi- 

 bition. Limits of space forbid further <le- 

 tailed reference beyond the statement that 

 at Ivlinhurgh hvst St^ptemiber, iMr. Gordon 

 gained premier honours for a collection of 

 vegetables (twelve varieties), w^hich were 

 c<uisi(lere<l bv experts to have been of verv 

 superior merit. Though essentially an in- 

 dustrious man. and devoted to horticulture 

 and its pursuits, Mr. Gordon spares time 



for requisite and healthy recreation. For- 

 merlv this took the form of cricket, but 

 latterly the Scottish uaine of bowling has 

 taken his attention, and the change has 

 been to the great advantage of the Port- 

 william Club, among whose members Mr. 



Gordon's name is generally prominent when 

 important contests have to be decided. 



R.H.S. Grapes for Shrewsbury 



Fete.- ^AVe luiderstand that the Roval 

 Horti<*ultnral Society proposes to exhibit 

 alK)ut forty bunches of grapes at the 

 Slirewsburv Floral Fete, on Wednes<lav 

 next. There is now an excellent colhn'tion 



of grai>es at the Society's ()la.r<lens, AVisley, 

 and many of the varieties are of excellent 

 flavour, and yet comparatively unknown. 

 The (vdleetion, to cons'st of about twenty 

 \ iirieties. should prove very interesting 



;Mid in.stnictive. 



r 



New Official Guide to Kew. 



The most lecent of ttie publication asso- 

 ciated witli the Roval IJotanic Gardens, 

 Kew, is the " Popuhir (iuide/' which has 

 made its appearance on our table, within 

 the past few days. Popular in style, as 

 well as in name, this new guide bears 

 unmistakable evidence of good w^ork, and 

 should prove of much value to visitors 

 who take something more than a superfi- 

 cial view of the gardens and their many 

 occupants. It may prove useful to those 

 who regard the gardens as merely an at- 

 ractive place of public resort in directing 

 attention to the great importance of the 

 work that is l>ein£r done Avithin their boun- 



daries, and the splendid services they have 

 rendered in connection with the develop- 

 ment of tea culture and other great in- 

 dustries in India and the Colonies. The 

 guide is accompanied by an excellent map, 

 and in the earlier pages are given a de- 

 scrip<^n of the mam features, and a his- 

 torical sketch extending over the period 

 wdiich has elapsed since Richmond iLodge, 



sto(xl in the Old 



w h ich 



Deer 



at one t;me sUhxX in 

 Park of Richmond, 



favourite residence of George 



Caroline. The functions 



stated 



was 

 II. 



of 



the 

 and 



clearly 



Kew 

 and 



of the several 



Queen 



are briefly^ yet 

 then follow descrii)tions 

 departments of the gardens, these latter 

 occupying l>etween seventy and eighty 

 pages. Although primarily provided as a 

 guide to visitors to the gardens, it will be 

 found useful to those wlio may wish to have 

 clear idea of the more characteristic 



of the gardens, and of the several 



and under glass, 



a 



featu 



collections in the open 

 and have but few, if any, opportunities of 



Kew. The guide is published at 

 and mav he obtained through 



usual wav. 



plotted horizontally. The curve for oak 

 indicates that, as the light intensity in- 

 creases, the number of seedlings per unit 

 area of the advance growth increases, 

 reaching a maximum when the light inten- 

 sity is one-fourth that of full daylight, and 

 that large variations in light intensity ar. 

 associated with comparatively small change > 

 in number of seedlings. The curve for 

 beech is very different, there being a com- 

 paratively large variation in see<lling num- 

 ber for a small variation in light inten- 

 sity, while the maximum is reached at one- 

 fortieth the full daylight intensity. The 

 author concludes by pointing out the prac- 

 tical importance of the Lichtgenuss metlioil 

 in forestrv. 



State Aid for Flower Shows. 



— With the exception of a few instances in 

 Ireland, State aid is rarely granted in anv 

 form to flower shows in the Uniteil Kintr- 

 dom. 



visiting 



[>ence, an<i may 

 the l>(X)ksellers in th( 



National Hardy Plant So- 

 ciety. — The second annual conference of 

 the National Hardy Plant Society will be 

 held at Shrewsbury on the second day of 

 the show, Thursday, August 22, at the 

 Ceorge iHotel, at 3.30 p.m. 

 Sanders, F.L.S., will read a 



Are Flower Shows 



but on the Continent considerahlo 

 financial and other help is extended to the 

 managing body of the larger efforts, for the 

 purpose of encouraging horticulture. At 

 Bruges, the International Exhibition hein^ 

 held this week is being assisted to the ex- 

 tent of something like £1,000 from the 

 State and Provincial Governments, and the 

 site of the show, as well as the laying-<iii 

 and supply of water and electric light, are 

 provided by the Corporation. All this is 

 Mr. T. W. done because horticulture is regarded as 



Advancing 



paper on 

 Hardv 



Plant Culture as they might and ought to 

 do ? There will also be a discus- 



the herbaceous soecies and 



a 



on tne neroaceous species 

 varieties of the genus veronica, 

 visitors to the show interested in hardy 

 plants are cordially invited. Certificates 

 will be awarded to new plants of suffi- 

 <'ient merit. Part'culars of any plants 

 entered should be sent to the secretary, 

 Mr. F. Bouskell, Market Bosworth, Niui- 

 eaton, on or before the 20th inst. 



A New Colonial Fruit Farm.— 



We understand that the Trade Orchard 

 Company, of St. John, New Brunswick, 

 has taken another step towards the estab- 

 lishment of a model fruit farm in the pro- 

 vince. At a recent meeting of the board 

 of the oompany it was decided to buy a 

 farm of about fifty acres, locate<l within 

 sixteen miles of the city, and a short dis- 

 tance below Brown^s Flat. The land is 

 said to he ideal for the growing of aj^ples 

 and other similar fruits. The land is at 

 pri^scnt under crops, but it will be taken 

 over early in the autumn, and preparations 

 will be made for setting out about 2,000 

 trees next spring. 



Relation of Light to Advance 



Growtll — The recently-issued Transac- 

 tions of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural 

 Society affords evidence that Wiesner's re- 

 searches on the Lichtgenuss of plants are 

 l>eing followed up by investigators in fores- 

 try work. Wiesners term may, observes 

 ''Nature," be rendered as photic ration, 

 or the ratio between the intensity (i.) of 

 the light actually falling upon a plant or 

 its parts, or its habitat, and the intensity- 

 (I.) of full daylight at the same time. Th 



ratio })etw(>en the two intensities (i. 

 is the specific pho 

 on the relation of 



vance growth 



In a paper 

 intensitv to ad- 



light 



that IS, to the trees which 



have sprung up in openings in the forest 

 or under the forest canopy, before 

 ration 



an important industry, and worthy of all 

 possible encouragement. 



The Potato Crop. — The potato dis- 

 ease has made its appearance in a consider- 

 AU able number of the English counties; and. 



although it has not as yet done any con- 

 siderabie amount of damage to the crop, it 

 has reduced its value somewhat. It has, 

 perhaps, been most active in the Midland 

 and Western Counties of England; but 

 north of York but little, if any, damage has 

 lieen done, and there is very little potato 

 disease in Scotland. At the present time 

 the Scottish potato crops are very promis- 

 ing, and, with more favourable climatic con- 

 ditions, they should be heavy and of higli 

 quality. The AVelsh potato crop is also very 

 satisfactory at the present time. The low 

 temperature which has been experienced ot 

 late, and has proved so hurtful in its effects 

 upon many croj)s of both farm and garden, 

 has rendered good sei-vice in connection 

 with the potatoes, as both warmth am 

 moisture are necessary for the rapid spread 

 of potato disease, a fact which some 

 writers appear to overlook. 



Blairg^owrie Raspberry Crop. 



- According to the Glasgow Herald." the 

 cold and wet weather that is being expe- 

 rienced in Scotland is having a disastrous 

 effect upon the raspberrv plantations i" 

 the Blairgowrie district.^ It is expected 

 that much of the fruit will not ripen, aii'l 

 in the case of otic plantation of l-) acres it 

 is computed that the yiekl will average only 

 one ton per acre. The critical state of tii< 

 crop has practically eaused growers } 

 cease .selling, and for present deliven^^ 

 £35 per ton is being asked. Boilers have 

 not yet obtained their full supplies. 

 The berries are weighing badly, and pickers 

 are complaining of the low wages 

 earned. Pickens' wages in the distn< ^ 



amount to about £460 a day. 



excee<i 



1 



5 



Avages paid this season 



al readv 



P. 



fellings 

 Gordon B. 



rcgene- 



were commenced — Mr. G. 

 Sc. , describes observations 

 made by him on oak and beech forests. 

 Graphic representations are given, in which 

 the number of seedlings per 0.8 square ])ole 

 for each species of tree is plotted verti- 

 cally, while the specific photie ration 



£4,500. The total despatch of fruit m tlie 

 first week of August was about 618 tons 

 fof which 368 went to England and ly^^ 

 Ii-eland), against 630 for the corresponding^ 

 week last year, and a record of 9lo tm 



the total 



l)revH)us vear. For the season 

 railed is ^1,318 t(ms, against fuH.v 



IS tons at the same time la.st y 



and 1.4'^ 



